Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-09-15
SUPERSTITIOUS MINERS.
It Takes a Hardy Man to Start
Prospecting Friday.
'"Lucky Stones"-Harrity's Old Fifty-Dol-
lar Slug, and the Service 1t Rendered
= Tenderfoot-An Extra Coffin
Finds . Tenant

"Speaking of superstitions," said
the judge. 1--WE used to have queer lot
of them in the early days. OF in the
camps We were worse than sailors,
and you know sailor is as full of SUI
perstition as sheep is of ticks. 1t
was hardy miner that would have
started out on prospecting tour a
Friday. Some of the boys laughed at
the idea. but they observed it as relig-
iously as the next one.
"'There amt nothin' in it. old
Shorty Forbes used to say, but there
must be. Their amt no use O riskin'
your luck, if you got any, and anyways
Saturday is jest as good day to start
as you could find
"Most of the boys had lucky stones
or something that answered for 'em.
Generally they were medals or lockets
they had brought from home They
were supposed to have in them some
of the good wishes of the folks they
left behind. Sometimes it was a slug
that had often turned the luck at the
gaming table. Tom Harrity, who usu-
ally went as Hairy Tom, had an old
battered $50 slug that he used to tell
wonderful lies about.
There might "a been something in
it," unused the Judge. Il don't know.
Leastways. Tom never lost it He
never played it till he got dead broke,
but it always brought the dust. He
wouldn't have taken $500 for that slug.
One day he paid it out by mistake in
settling up for an outfit, and BY George
You ought to have seen that camp hum
when he found it out. The fellow had
gone, and it took Tom half day to
find out which road he had taken.
Well. he chased that fellow half way
to Sacramento. but you bet he got
him. He persuaded the fellow to swap
the lucky slug for two others by stick
ing siX-shoOter under his nose
Twas a pretty good trade for the fell
low, too. let alone the six-shooter bust
ness, for the slug heightened have
been SO lucky with him. Leastways,
I've never heard of it since Tom died.
Still. you can't tell as to that.
There WI a young fellow come into
camp. and he was fresh one. The
second night he was there he steered
into the Bucking Tiger saloon and run
up against the tiger itself. 1t took
him about half an hour to put 500 in
TO the bank, and. as that was his last
cent. he looked mighty pale about the
gills. Tom took in the situation and
hauled out his six-shooter and his
Aug. He tossed the slug on the table.
Play that, young fellow he said.
IAN il You lose it, curse you. I'll blow
the hull top of your head off,
He played it and Won.
"'Play it again, said Tom. lowering
the hammer to half-cock; the hull
pile
Play it again. he ordered, when
the second trial resulted happily.
at won again.
Once more. ordered Tom.
at won for the fourth time
Gimme that slug, said Tom.
Now git! and don't We look at card
again as long as We live. Ye amt got
any luck He dropped the slug back
into his pocket, and the young fellow
left camp next morning.
II remember another case where a
superstition squared with the facts.
lit was at the old Tuolume camp
when things had just begun to boom.
A few rich strikes that some of the
lucky ones had made had encouraged
the rest of US to hang on. The Jump
ing Jehosophat claim had got in some
of the new-fangled powder. and was
blasting away for all that was out.
Most of us looked askance at the new
powder, and when Uncle Billy Grimes
prophesied that the camp would be
blown up with the stuff or get poisoned
with its fumes, as his partner had at
Red Gulch. we made the Jumping
Jehosophat boys move 1t out of harms
way. So when blast went off one
fine morning when nobody was expect
ing it and it laid out five of the best
men in the camp. we were all able to
say: I told you so.' as We rushed up
to the claim.
1.-The camp was intensely excited.